Today I got another headache!!! Agh… This time it was on the left side of my head/eye. I have terrible posture and I’m sure that’s partly the problem. I’ve also been reading a lot lately (about the Bates Method) and I tend to crane my neck forward when I read. This is the only explanation I can come up with for the cause of my headaches this week.
Completed:
- 2 right leg heaviness A.T. sessions
- Had to wear my glasses most of the time between 8am-noon and 2pm-5pm. This may have also contributed to my headaches because now my old glasses (with the lower prescription) kind of give me a headache when I have to wear them.
- 5 Sun Salutations A (I tried these to see if they would help my headache at all- they didn’t).
I’ve been doing pretty well with my blinking, breathing, shifting (moving), and relaxation. The last few days I’ve been having moments where my vision starts clearing up and instead of seeing how much better it will get by staring I just keep blinking. Sometimes the partial clearing will remain after a few blinks. These moments are not nearly as clear as the one clear flash I had last week, but they are much clearer than my normal WOGs vision. It’s interesting however, that they usually occur when I’m not paying attention to my vision; and then just as quickly as I start to “try” and see they go away. If I am able to maintain an effortless view then it usually stays clearer through my blinking. I think this must be what T.R. Quackenbush was talking about in “Relearning to See”. He mentions that all of our other senses (touch, smell, hearing, and taste) we usually experience without effort. Sight is different for us myopes however because most of the timewe are trying to see. This trying, or effort is the cause of our strain. It’s quite a catch-22 because sometimes I’ll try to see without effort. But this is impossible (at least right now) for me because the mental recognition of trying to not see forces my mind to try and see. Hopefully this is something I can improve by focusing my effort on the blinking, breathing, and swaying. I’m going to take a little break from my centralizing efforts until my headache goes away and focus on the blinking and swaying. Bates said in one of his 1930s magazines that these are the two most important things to do if one is trying to improve their vision. For me, I’ll also have to add correcting my posture. This is a huge impediment to my visual progress because it causes me so much neck and shoulder strain. So if anyone out there has overcome this hurdle I would love to hear about your experiences and/or what worked for you!
There are some good ways to correct posture. If you are using a desktop monitor, you can raise the monitor to head level using some solid object underneath. This will align your head with the spine. If you are using a laptop, put something underneath to raise it but be sure to allow ventilation underneath as well.
Another great way to correct posture is simply to walk barefoot. I walked barefoot for 2-3 miles the first three days and noticed that it made posture feel much easier. It is fun to be able to feel what’s on the ground with your feet, which is an exciting sensation, as opposed to feeling nothing different with shoes on. More info can be obtained at http://barefooters.org/
Dr. Bates has a section on how to use the eyes correctly while walking. It is in his June 1927 issue of BEM, or p. 484 if you have the BEM compilation published by Quackenbush.
For palming, posture can be improved by using two or three pillows on your lap while you are sitting in lotus position to prevent bending the back and neck so much.
I have found that practicing central fixation too much will at times give me headaches if I unintentionally strain when doing so, but if I am doing other things I do not get headaches. Maybe central fixation is something you’ll have to learn to do without straining first. Headaches seem to occur as well if I unconsciously strain to read a book, but strangely this happens only when my eyes feel strained before beginning to read. I am a low myope, so I can read books without any apparent discomfort otherwise.
Hope this is of some use!
Thank you SO MUCH for your good advice. As soon as I finish this reply I’m going to find something to put underneath my laptop- I have to look pretty far down to see the screen. This barefoot idea is great! I never thought about this with respect to posture. I’ve always loved going barefoot, but rarely do in the winter because it’s so cold. I’ll try doing it more around the house and maybe if I get brave I’ll try it outside for little bits of time.
I’m curious, do you walk around barefoot to places? and then just bring shoes if you have to go into stores? I haven’t yet looked at the link you provided, but I will this evening.
You made some good points about central fixation and reading. I need to pay better attention to the feeling of eyestrain and just avoid reading during this time.
Thanks again for your comments. I really appreciate your time and thoughts! Have you had good luck with the Bates Method, and if so what kind of improvement have you seen?
You are welcome; but, don’t forget to allow ventilation underneath the laptop or it will overheat; this can occur with or without fans at the bottom.
I like your curiosity; natural curiosity for just about anything seems to be few and far between today. To answer your barefoot questions, I only started barefooting two weeks ago. I cannot give you an adequate answer to your questions, sorry. Other than to say that it seems possible to go barefoot in most places; and I’ve seen people do it.
What I meant to point out is that walking 2-3 miles per day on pavements, streets, grass, and gravel for only two days in a row–as well as part-time barefooting indoors–was enough to make me feel a great difference in posture and body balance. The plantar muscles, the tendons, the ankles, the calves, and the thighs were strengthened so fast, yet without cramping–and the entire lower body and upper body seemed affected in a very proportional way. I did some barefoot running so that could be part of why rapid strengthening took place. But what happened in only two days made it easy to understand why gymnasts (who are always barefoot) and ancient Greek athletes as depicted by their statues have such well-balanced bodies. It was an euphoria I began to recall from the days of childhood when I used to barefoot a lot, but had forgotten about.
I have had some good luck with the Bates Method. Too much good luck, that is. I have also had the worst luck imaginable. Nothing to do directly with the method–but things out of my control.
The improvements I have seen include:
1. Permanent increase in base acuity level
2. Temporarily acquiring photographic memory for a few days
3. Recalling several different quotes and phrases verbatim in a single day without having consciously memorized them
4. Recalling someone’s last name I had forgotten from over 15 years ago, thought to have been lost forever
5. Increased speed in reading; finished reading a highly scientific/academic 210 pages book in only one day; a feat unheard of for me
5. Being so perfectly relaxed and imagining something so clearly that, when my eyes were closed, all background static disappeared completely, ten times in a row. It was like looking at a perfect x-ray world on the other side, all black and gray/white outlines but very sharp. But to be sucked into such a world felt like losing all sense of direction at once, so I was startled from it every time.
6. Seeing a black period nearly perfect with my eyes closed and having the same “startling effect” but with a small, permanent increase in vision afterwards
7. Seeing the full moon and its craters during twilight, as clearly as you would see it in a photography book
8. Improvements in writing organization skills
9. Eight straight, unwavering clear flashes which were identical to each other in every way and without any multiple images – allowing me to read the 10/5 line with halos enabled, which would have become permanent if someone hadn’t knocked on my bedroom at the wrong time.
10. The list goes on…
I tried walking barefoot today vidi and it worked really well! I liked the feeling of my feet on the floor. I think it helps recline my body backwards a little bit. I tend to lean forward.
Thank you for the compliment about being curious. You must be curious yourself to find a website about barefooters
Here is one of my favorite quotes:
“Curiousity is a delicate little plant which, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom.” ~Albert Einstein
Do you keep a blog of your vision experience? I would be very interested in reading it if you do. I’m afraid to ask what your negative experience has been. It sounds like your positive experiences are amazing however, congratulations on your progress!!!
That is awesome; many shoes tend to cause you to lean forward slightly, and you have to curve your back to make up for the bad posture. Not good.
I love your quote and I’m an avid fan of quotes, especially ones by Einstein.
No, I do not keep a blog of my vision experience. I keep a written journal which allows me to draw pictures. In addition, I tend to be gone from the computer for several days and even weeks sometimes while I am working on my vision. I would, however, be glad to share the things I recorded in my journal, in your blog if you do not mind.
One of my negative experiences beyond my control is already mentioned by #9 when someone knocked on my bedroom door at the exact wrong time. It was very interesting to observe the behavior of my vision as soon as someone started knocking–the vision would blur slightly then snap right back in place every time the knocking took place. In other words, the vision was so perfect at the time that it ‘actively’ refused to be broken. It was an one-time occurrence and the knocking on my door was the first time in three weeks! I guess that God does not like me very much!
Also, I noticed in your new blog entry today that you wrote my name as ‘vidi’. Vidi is perfect tense in Latin, referring to a finished action, meaning ‘I have seen, I did see, I saw’. Video serves as infinitive and present tense in Latin, standing for ‘to see’. Julius Caesar once said “veni, vidi, vici” which stands for “I came, I saw, I conquered.” I thought ‘vidi’ would be fitting since I ‘have seen’ many unusual things while improving my vision.
Cheers!
What a clever name- I should have assumed it had meaning! I really like it, it is very appropriate! I am also a huge fan of quotes, I don’t know why. I actually keep a notebook where I write my favorites down as I come across them. This way I can always look back and reread them for the inspiration or feelings they evoked at the time I found them.
I am doing that as well (keeping a written journal). I like to do this during the day so that I can sit down and write everything at once on the computer without forgetting something. I am only doing the online blog in hopes that it someday helps as a “case study” for my experience. I’m not sure if that will ever happen (if someone would use my experience to justify the Bates method), but I wanted to make it available just in case
Feel free to add comments to any of my posts if you find that you’ve had similar or dissimilar experience, advice for doing something a different way or whatever! I truly believe that we learn best from other people. Reading books are wonderful, however it is no substitute for experience!
You make very good points, and I couldn’t agree more!
Yes, I will comment on your posts. Going on to your newest post now.